


Can't Start Too Late

by thatcrazywriterley



Series: The Too Late Tales [21]
Category: AEW, All Elite Wrestling, Being The Elite (Web Series), Professional Wrestling, Young Bucks-Fandom
Genre: And a surprise - Freeform, Basketball, Multi, Polyamorous Relationships, Polyamory, brothers share a wife, the bucks being good dads... again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:09:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24034063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatcrazywriterley/pseuds/thatcrazywriterley
Summary: An afternoon teaching the kids to play basketball leads to a surprise reveal.
Relationships: Matt Jackson/Reader, Matt Jackson/Reader/Nick Jackson, Nick Jackson/Reader
Series: The Too Late Tales [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695274
Kudos: 3





	Can't Start Too Late

_(GIF owned by superkickparty on Tumblr)_

I sat on the patio beneath the shade, the book I’d brought down from the house laying forgotten in my lap. It was hard to read with the squealing and laughter ringing in the air anyway. Just below me, Matt and Nick had all four of the kids on the tennis court. Basketballs bounced and rolled in every direction as the California sun beat down.

“Sunscreen!” I called down to them, grinning.

Matt looked up, his brown eyes hidden behind his thick sunglasses. He smiled. “You heard Mama.”

Nick, who had been on the other side of the court with Mattie, dropped his basketball between his feet, whistled, and clapped twice. “Let’s do it, Jacksons!” Lee and RJ looked over at the sound of his voice. “Everybody round up Papa!”

The kids dropped whatever they were doing and came running, waddling, and toddling over to where Matt stood just beneath me. Lee looked up and grinned, waving excitedly. I waved back.

A moment later, Nick was there in the thick of it. Mattie—now nine—was old enough to put her sunscreen on herself. She dutifully rubbed it on her arms and legs, face and neck, then turned around for her Dad to get where she couldn’t reach. Then she went to help Nicole. Lee had it all over his fingers as Matt tried to show him how and ended up leaving a bright white smear along his Papa’s face. RJ submitted to Nick without complaint.

My husbands, ever the good examples for our children, slathered on their own sunscreen. I was still surprised, that after all this time, the sight of them shirtless and sweating could make my breath catch and my cheeks flame.

Once all the kids were thoroughly slathered in sunscreen, they went their separate ways. The boys had installed two more basketball goals for the kids. There was the standard size one for them, then another with a six-foot-high hoop, and a third one that was Fisher-Price. The girls trailed behind Nick, both focusing hard on bouncing the basketballs in their hands. The boys stayed close by with Matt, the three of them gathering around the bright red plastic hoop.

“Bounce, Papa,” RJ said, holding out his still-chubby hands. He was two now, and his Papa was the greatest person in the whole world. “Bounce.”

Matt grinned at him and picked up one of the small basketballs that came with the hoop. He took RJ by the wrist and pulled our son to stand in front of him. “Bounce, just like this,” he said calmly. I watched as he bounced the ball once or twice himself, dropping it to the ground and then patting it with his hand when it came back up.

“Ounce!” RJ giggled, clapping his hands. Matt laughed and, patiently, started teaching them both how to bounce a basketball and put it through their plastic Fisher-Price hoop.

The girls and Nick were on the other side of the ten-foot hoop. He half crouched, half sat on his basketball in front of them. Nicole clutched her pink kid’s ball against her stomach and watched raptly as her Dad showed Mattie how to hold the ball to shoot it the right way. Mattie did exactly as Nick told her, putting her hands just where he said.

I watched as he had her pretend to shoot a basket, catching the ball one handed and giving it back, correcting her gently each time. Nicole followed her sister’s lead, beaming whenever Nick praised her efforts.

My heart ached with how much I loved them. Our lives had fallen into a kind of normalcy in the ten years the three of us had been together. The way I loved the two of them was a constant background noise to our lives—it was never far away, easily noticed and brought to the forefront—but sometimes, in moments like this, it hit me so completely that it took my breath away. I fell in love with them over and over, each time I saw them with our children in the quiet snippets of daily life.

They were more than I had ever dreamed. I was lucky beyond anyone else in the world to have them. To have two wonderful, strong, kind, loving men who wanted to be mine, who didn’t care what anyone thought about our lives. To watch them be completely besotted with our children, wrapped around our daughters’ fingers, completely enamored with their growing sons. I’d never seen two better fathers—they were patient and gentle, kind and open with their affection, but a united front when it came to discipline and teaching our kids right from wrong. As much as they were at the beck and call of our children, they were firm with their expectations and consistent with their consequences. And I knew that they had learned it all from Matt Sr., who treated me just like his own.

As afternoon wore on, the boys started getting fussy. The heat and the lack of their normal nap left them cranky and no longer willing to let Papa teach them to play. Matt took Lee by the hand and, with RJ on his hip, brought them up to the patio. He sank down into the chair next to me in the shade as Lee climbed into my lap and tucked his head against my shoulder.

“You’re training another set of All City Champs, aren’t you?” I asked playfully.

Matt laughed and pushed his glasses up on top of his head. RJ curled up in his Dada’s lap and started sucking his thumb. I could see the faint tan lines on my husband’s face where his glasses had been. “Rancho Cucamonga’s finest.”

“I don’t think I thank you enough. You and Nick… you are the best dads in the world. I couldn’t have dreamed better for my kids than you two.”

He reached over and took my hand, bringing it up to his lips and kissing my fingers. “It’s easy for you and for them. Plus,” he looked out at his brother, still working diligently with the girls, “we had a good example.”

“He’s so proud of you guys, you know that, don’t you?” I laced our fingers together and smiled. His skin was hot and already a few shades darker than my own.

Before he could respond, Nick and the girls came up the steps onto the patio. Mattie flopped down on one of the loungers and closed her eyes. Nicole sat down on the edge, sticking her legs through the slats in the railing and swinging her feet.

Nick planted his hands on the back of my chair and leaned over, giving me a playful upside-down kiss. Lee grunted when the brim of his Dada’s hat bopped him in the head. “Sorry, bud,” he mumbled, grinning. “I think it’s time we all go take a nap, and then get in the pool later.”

Mattie let out a grunt, rolled off the lounger, and trudged up the steps toward the houses. “I’m going to Papa’s,” she mumbled on the way up.

***

It was getting late, and the kids had finally all been tucked into bed at Nick’s. The three of us sat in the living room, Nick with his head in my lap and me with mine on Matt’s shoulder. Matt’s fingers were threaded with mine as my other hand swept gently through Nick’s hair. The room was comfortably quiet, and I took the time to enjoy being with them like this. Four kids and their careers left little time for us to be together like we wanted.

Nick looked up, his blue eyes bright and wide. “When are you going to tell us, Y/N?”

“Tell you what?” I replied, looking anywhere but at him. I could hear the nervousness in my voice, and I was surprised they couldn’t hear my heart beating in my chest.

“We’ve kinda figured out the signs by now, Mama,” Matt added, pressing his lips to my hair.

I blinked and let my head fall back against the sofa cushions. I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry. How could I have thought that I could keep it a secret from them?

“What gave me away?” I asked, looking from Nick to Matt and back again.

Nick grinned. “You were scrubbing the grout in the shower with a toothbrush.”

“And organizing the linen closet,” Matt added.

“Washing all the sheets and blankets…”

“… alphabetizing the DVD rack…”

“…unpacking…”

“… and then _repacking_ …”

“… the storage tubs in Matt’s garage…”

I waved my hands to silence them. “Cleaning? That’s why you think…”

Matt raised a brow. “C’mon, Y/N. There’s only _one time_ that you ever clean as obsessively as you have been this week. We’ve seen you do it four times.”

“So…” Nick prompted, drawing out the word.

Sighing, I nodded. “Yes. I’m pregnant.”

Nick sat up and moved to kneel in the floor in front of me. I looked back and forth between them, worrying as always that they would be upset. But I shouldn’t, just as I never had to. They were looking at me with matching, hopeful smiles and an excited light in their eyes. Nick’s baby blues were already glistening with tears.

“Wait,” I said, taking their hands and drawing in a deep breath. “I need to ask you both something. And I want you to be honest with me.”

The excitement shifted to worry. Matt turned to look at me head on. Nick scooted closer, settling one hand on my knee. I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard. I could see the terror settling in.

“Is it okay… if this is the last one?”

As one, they deflated, both of them slumping over against me. Matt cradled my head in his palm and pressed a hard kiss to my temple. Nick let his forehead rest against my knees.

“Sweet baby Jesus,” Matt murmured against my hair, gasping for breath. “Don’t scare us like that.”

Nick took both my hands in his and pulled them to his mouth, whispering against my fingers. I couldn’t make out the words, but the pain in them broke my heart. “Nick…”

He looked up, squeezing my fingers in his. “You’ve given us more than we have a right to ask for, Sunshine. Four beautiful kids. Houses turned into homes. Support in _everything_ we’ve done for the last twelve years.” He took a breath, sighed. “You’re the one who has to carry the baby. You’re the one who has to go through labor. You’re the one who is put at risk. If you don’t want any more, then we’re done.”

The brothers looked at each other for a moment, communicating in that way they had. “We’ll do this like we’ve done everything else, together,” Matt said confidently. “Although, I never thought I’d be getting a vasectomy with my brother. But you’re worth it, Y/N.”

I snorted, laughing despite the heady relief I felt. Nick grinned and moved back to sit beside me. As one, they leaned in and pressed kisses against my cheeks, laughing along with me.


End file.
